


Nepetaquest 2016

by HeeCawRoo



Series: Nepetaquest 2016 [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, Love Triangles, Multi, Nepetaquest, Polyamory, Romance, check series listing for more relationship tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:53:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3523133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeeCawRoo/pseuds/HeeCawRoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Which A Young Hero Leads A Six Person Team With Intention To Stop A Former Friend Of Hers With Ambitions To Take Control Of The World; Each Main Character Gets Their Own Separate Character Growth Arc; Two Heroes Have A Sexually Ambiguous Relationship With The Villain; A Minor Is Lured Into Evil; A Secondary Character Gets Into Numerous Dangerous Situations; There Are 524 Explosions; 7 Inventions Used As Weapons; 3 Kisses; Multiple Polyamorous Relationships; 4 Characters With Physical Disabilities; Two Plot Important Jackets; Zero Clowns</p><p>Originally started as a joke, but gets serious fast. Please consider reading up to chapter 4 if you're not sure about it. Comprised mostly of gay angst and bad decisions.</p><p>Not a single word of this was written in 2016.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Nothing All That Unusual Actually Happens

AC: :33 < *ac parries the blow with her claws and bounces back on her feet*  
AC: :33 < is that really the best you can do *she says while making a slash at the bull*  
AT: oKAY, fOR THE RECORD I'M NOT ACTUALLY PLAYING AS A BULL CHARACTER BUT OKAY I READY MYSELF TO CHARGE WITH MY LANCE,  
AC: :33 < hah! as if that would work *ac jumps up high in the air with her cat-like refurlexes and lands on a tree branch*  
AT: i FEEL LIKE THIS SCENARIO IS A LITTLE UNFAIR,

A loud ring pulled Nepeta's attention away from her screen. Pulling out her cellphone she looked at the caller ID, noticing the time on the digital clock as she did so. Three AM.

"Oh hell," she said. "He's gonna be mad about that"

Leaning away from her laptop she sent a quick message to Tavros to explain her imminent disappearance.

AC: :33 < okay hold on im getting a call  
AC: :33 < from you know who  
AT: oH, tELL HIM I SAID HI I GUESS,  
AT: dOES THIS MEAN YOU HAVE TO GO NOW?  
AC: :33 < purrobably! but dont worry i will be back tomorrow to finish this and eliminate the pesky pupa pan once and fur all  
AT: oH, gREAT, i CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.  
*AT has disconnected*

She closed her laptop and answered the call from Equius, bracing herself for the STERN TALKING TO she was probably about to receive.

"Hey Equius!"

"Nepeta" a raspy voice greeted her with. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

She frowned. "Well yeah I do! And you just woke me up, too. That's so inconsiderate of you"

"Do not lie to me. You were logged in to your roleplaying account."

"Maybe I just left the computer on!"

"The fact that you are trying to mislead me means you already know that you've done something wrong. Or perhaps you only know that I think you have. Which is it, Nepeta?"

"I don't need you keeping track of me, Equius! I'm nineteen I am completely capable of getting as much sleep as I need to"

"And yet your actions speak otherwise. You have an exam tomorrow in two of your classes, were you planning on sleeping through them?"

"Ugh! It's weird that you know that, and it's weird that you're calling me to get me to go to sleep"

"No it's not"

"Yes it is!"

"Don't try to coax me into a foolish argument. Go to bed."

"Aww darn."

Nepeta frowned. She knew she didn't actually have to listen to him. But...

"Good night, Equius"

"Good night Nepeta."

She did have two exams tomorrow after all.


	2. In Which The Antagonist Is Significantly Mentioned

The next morning Nepeta awoke to WAY TOO MANY NOISES. She turned off her alarm clock, then picked her phone up from the floor. She stared at it for a second, then rejected Equius's call. He'd be mad, but whatever. He'd know she was awake without her having to talk to him again. Didn't he have his own life to manage???

Terezi was waiting outside the door for her by her first class. As she approached, the other girl swung up her cane and stopped it an inch from Nepeta's chest. She still had no idea how the blind girl could DO that. It was a wonderful mystery she didn't even want answered.

"You my friend are very close to being late!!" Terezi screeched. She was always screeching. It was a real problem and also a confusing one.

"Close, but I'm not am I!" Nepeta walked past into the classroom and Terezi followed close behind her.

"No, you're lucky this time. For what that's worth!"

"It's worth a lot, okay? I know, if something happened I would've been locked out of the exam, whatever. I've already got one person trying to run my life, I don't need you too!"

Terezi laughed, but it came out as a cackle.

"Is he harassing you again?" she leaned in close to Nepeta. "You know, I can take care of him for you if you want. You're capable of looking out for yourself."

Nepeta sighed. "No, don't do that. He's fine. He's just trying to help. Let's stop talking about this, what's been going on with you?"

Terezi stopped at her desk and put one foot up on it, standing up straighter as Nepeta sat down beside her.

"I am having similar problems that manage to still be the complete opposite!" she declared. "You have three chances to guess the cause; go!"

"Um," Nepeta chewed on a corner of her jacket. "Karkat?"

Terezi laughed again. "No!! But nice try. He's been giving me trouble too but I am choosing to ignore him in favor of something substantially more important than him. Two more guesses!"

Nepeta wasn't really sure what to make of this but if she kept guessing wrong Terezi would just tell her so...

"John?"

"John is a very nice boy who has some strange misconceptions about me, but no he is not the reason for my current stress. Although he is very closely involved!"

Wait. No, not again. She didn't want to say it. Should she? She shouldn't say it. She hated when Terezi got serious, the way she always did when they talk about

"Vriska?"

"Vriska." Terezi declared with malice embedded into her voice. She dropped into her chair and her voice got quiet. "Do you know what she's up to right now? She called me again last night."

"I haven't talked to her in a long time." Nepeta said, dumping her bag on her desk and seperating her notes from the rest. "I don't even want to, I never want to hear from her."

"Me either." Terezi said, with a tight lipped frown. "But I don't have a choice. She's my responsibility, if she's involved in something I can't exactly ignore her calls. And she's always involved in something."

"So what did she have to say?"

"She didn't give me any specifics. But it's something big this time, I can tell." Terezi leaned close to Nepeta and put her cane on the desk, seperating Nepeta from the papers she had been shuffling around. "I think I need your help, Nepeta. I need you to be my eyes for me. If you see something..."

She hesitated. "I know you don't want to get involved. But it's something I can't do. Can I count on you?"

Nepeta REALLY didn't want to get involved with Vriska.

... Terezi had never asked her for help before.

"I can do it." she said. "You can count on me Terezi!"

Terezi grinned and straightened up in her chair. "Good!" she said, her volume finally raising again. "That's good to know. So hey, how about before anything kicks off we hang out for a while? Later today we can get everyone together. How does that sound?"

Like the opposite of a break. It sounded like a taunt. Gather everyone who's cut their ties with Vriska in one place right after she's announced some sinister new plan? Great idea!

Nepeta hated getting involved with Vriska and Terezi's messed up relationship.

But she'd promised, and she'd be there for her if she needed it.

"That sounds like a great idea. I call dibs on inviting Karkat!"

Terezi grimaced. "Like I'd want to do that myself? Thanks for volunteering."

Nepeta giggled. If everything was going to go wrong again, at least they'd get to have some fun first.


	3. In Which Karkat Is So Completely Fucking Done With This Bullshit

"Absolutely not!"

Nepeta winced at his loud voice and held her phone a little further away from her ear.

"But why not Karkat? It'll be fun!" she said cheerfully.

"It will not be 'fun'. It will be the most exceptionally miserable experience I've ever had. It will be a fucking disaster and I will regret ever considering leaving my house to show up." Karkat rambled. "If you're wondering how I know this I know this because it's you asking."

"But you're using future tense! That means you're coming, right?" Nepeta asked hopefully.

"That's just a-- What the fuck, you know I'm not coming!"

Nepeta pouted. It just wouldn't be the same without Karkat. There had to be some way to change his mind!!

"Why are you always so grumpy Karkat, why can't you just come to our party"

"You know god damn well why!"

Nepeta frowned again. She always ended up frowning a lot when she called Karkat! Why did she even like him, why did he have to just be so funny sometimes.

"Because it's me asking, right?"

"Yes. Because it's you asking." he snorted. "Wow, you can learn after all! It's a fucking miracle!"

"You don't have to be so mean, Karkat!!"

"Don't I??? You don't seem to get the message any other way. Isn't that why you still keep calling me, even after what happened?"

"...But I really wanted to see you again," Nepeta said sadly. "I know you hate me, but it's still a party, so..."

There was silence on the line. After a while Karkat spoke again, sounding considerably less angry.

"I don't hate you. Look, I'm sorry. It's just" he hesitated. "Could you maybe try to be less pushy? I get that you like me and want to spend time with me. I know. I kind of always knew actually? And maybe I reacted badly when you told me, but still. I'm not just going to pretend nothing happened and hang out with you again. Hell, I didn't really like hanging out with you that much BEFORE all this! It's just. Not happening."

"Okay," Nepeta said. She guessed that was the best she could do. He was right, anyway. It was a little much to expect him to respond any better than, well, any time she asked him to hang out lately.

"Terezi will probably be disappointed though" she mused. She wanted Karkat to come too, right? If she didn't she would've told Nepeta not to invite him, so she must. Plus Karkat was probably important to her plan, considering he has ties to--

"Wait, what?"

"Oh yeah! Did I furget to mention? Terezi's organizing this, I'm just in charge of inviting you"

"Yeah you fucking forgot to mention that!"

Oh duh! Karkat had been bugging Terezi again lately, right? Maybe he'd show up for her! He'd never admitted it but Nepeta knew he had a huge crush on Terezi. In fact she secretly suspected that was the reason he'd never given her a chance! Probably not though.

"So does that mean you'll come to the party after all?"

"What? No. Of course not." he said quickly, sounding a little flustered. "Why the fuck would I do that, I just said I wasn't going to. It would be prety awful for me to show up for her after I just re-rejected you."

Oh he was definitely coming!

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Uh." he paused for a few seconds. "So, she asked you to invite me?"

"Oh, no, I volunteered. She probably would have asked me though, I'm not sure she wanted to talk to you yet." Nepeta explained. "She definitely wants you there though!"

"Oh. Hm."

"If you're not coming though I guess that's that then. I'll call her right after this."

Karkat said nothing for a minute, occasionally making noises like he was going to and then changing his mind. After a while though he spoke up.

"So uh, just curious, where are you guys meeting up?" he asked.

Nepeta giggled.

"Don't laugh, okay! I said I'm not going so I'm fucking not going. I just want to know where to avoid for the rest of the day."

"Well it's at her house, so I don't think you need to worry about that!" she said.

"Oh."

"Well, I guess there's nothing left to say." she said. "See you then Karkat!"

She hung up on his attempts to protest and started picking out her outfit for the party.


	4. In Which The Shit Officially Hits The Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modified slightly to reflect the earlier rewrites.

The party was great.

Nepeta looked around, holding a cup of soda. Though it didn't exactly add up to many people, all of her friends were there. Except Equius that is, as Terezi had insisted on excluding him. Nepeta couldn't hold that against her of course; with the way she talked about him around Terezi anyone would think they both hated him.

She didn't, though.

"How's it going?" Tavros asked, wheeling up to her.

"Great! It's so fun to see everyone like this."

"Speaking of everyone, I was wondering, is, uh, 'you know who' coming?" he asked. "By 'you know who' I mean your boyfriend, which is what I'm calling him even though you got mad last time, because I couldn't think of anything else to call him."

She frowned. "Equius isn't here, Terezi didn't want him to come." she said. "And I got mad when you said that beclaws he's _not my boyfriend!_ Why would you even think he is?"

"Well, you're really close, and you talk about him kind of all the time, and also apparently let him end conversations for you,"

"I'm close to lots of people!" she argued. "That doesn't mean I'm dating any of them. Can't two people just be _friends?_ "

Tavros fidgeted, uncomfortable. "I don't think you're dating all of your friends, that would be ridiculous, especially considering I'm also your friend," he said. "But okay, if you say he's not your boyfriend, I believe you. But I think someone else, uh, might still have some doubts."

"Who..?" Nepeta wondered for a second, then shoved the thought out of her head. "No, I don't even care who. I don't have to prove myself to anyone about this. Equius is my _best_ friend, and anyone who doesn't get that can _mind their own business._ "

"Ok,"

"Let's stop talking about Equius. We're still waiting on someone else to show up."

"Oh," Tavros said, relieved by the change in topic. "Who is it?"

It was Karkat, of course. Nepeta was starting to think he'd meant it when he said he wouldn't be there. As she ran through that thought however, she heard a knock at the front door. She looked over at Terezi, who frowned at the door and pointedly turned her back on it. Nepeta grinned and then ran over to open it.

It was, in fact, Karkat, fidgetting and staring at a red book in his hand. He looked up as the door opened and gawked at her.

"Uh, shit." he said. Clearly, he had been hoping she wouldn't see him arrive.

"Hi Karkat! I knew you'd be here" she grinned. He backed up and started waving his hands in the air in protest.

"No, I-- I'm not here for the party. Terezi left this book at my house so I thought I should--"

Terezi suddenly emerged from the other room and approached them.

"You mean the book I left at your house last year?" she said. "Which I, obviously, can't even read and had by cooincidence? I'm so grateful, Karkat."

Karkat growled at her. "Well I was just trying to be nice. Sorry for wasting your time."

Terezi grabbed the book out of his hand with a loud sound and turned on her heels back into the party.

"Just come inside, Karkat." she called over her shoulder. He didn't protest.

Karkat soon took up a post leaning against a table with Sollux and glaring over at Terezi. Nepeta decided to stay out of his way. At least he was here, she shouldn't push her luck! She walked over to Feferi and Aradia instead.

"Are you having fun?" she asked. They both grinned.

"I shore am!" Feferi said. "It's nice to spend some time as a group every once in a while. It's been so long since we did this!"

She suddenly frowned off to the side. "Isn't that right, Eridan? So stop sulking over there."

Eridan, who had been wandering a few feet away and pretending not to look at them, looked up in surprise. Feferi darted out her arm and pulled him closer to the group. He glared.

"Well it's not like we don't know why that is" he snapped. "It's also not like we don't know this isnt the extent of our group"

Feferi opened her mouth to scold him, but Aradia spoke up before she could.

"You're talking about Vriska." she said. He scoffed at her.

"And so what if I am?" he said. "Or are you going to say she's not one of us anymore? Just cause of what happened?"

"Do you actually want her to be?"

"I didn't say that now did I? But let's face it, if she wasn't would we be doing this right now"

Nepeta tensed. This was not the kind of conversation she had been expecting. Was the goal of this meet-up really so obvious?

She looked around. Kanaya and Tavros were in hushed converstaion near the other side of the room, throwing pointed glances at Terezi who had her back to the wall and was turned just right to hear the door clearly.

They all knew. Only Sollux and Karkat, still hanging out by the kitchen, seemed oblivious. Nepeta approached them.

"Hey guys!" she said, with the biggest grin she could muster plastered to her face. Karkat frowned at her approach but seemed to relax after a second, apparently more comfortable around her when not alone.

"Hey Nepeta." Sollux answered into his drink.

"How have you been doing lately Karkat?" she asked.

"Like you don't know. You never stop calling, anyway." he said.

Nepeta giggled. "If you mind that much, why do you always answer?"

Karkat scowled, and didn't answer. Nepeta turned to Sollux.

"So Sollux, what are you doing hiding in here?" she asked. "I can understand Karkat, but don't you want to hang out with Aradia and Fefurry?"

"I hang out with them all the time, I don't need to do it here." he said. "Besides, it's way too tense in there."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's acting like something's about to happen. I don't know what's going on, but you can cut the silence with a knife half the time. The only reason I'm even still here is cause TZ wants me to be."

Wow, no one was even trying to pretend.

Karkat looked confused, then shook his head and an expression of concern replaced it.

"Hey Nepeta, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said.

"You already are talking to me, Karkat."

Karkat looked pointedly at Sollux who threw his hands in the air, empty plastic cup flying out of them.

"Oh, like this is any better! I'm going to see what's in the fridge." he walked away.

Karkat's voice dropped to a near whisper. "Hey, I'm really sorry." he said. "About today. Saying I wouldn't come to the party, and then showing up anyway just because you mentioned her. Even though I said I wouldn't. Like, what the fuck? Biggest asshole of the year award, right here." he hesitated. "Though I probably already had that."

"It's fine, Karkat!" she reassured him. "I'm just happy you're here! I don't really care about that"

"No but, I think you really should." he said. "The thing is, I--"

There was a loud crash from next room, like someone breaking a cup. Everyone froze. Karkat looked completely dumbstruck, and behind him she could see Sollux staying perfectly still, letting out all the cold air from the fridge. Nepeta awkwardly turned around.

"I, uh." she started. "I better go check on that!"

She walked into the next room. Most people had broken up their conversations and were scattered around the room; Terezi was gone. And on the other side of the room, grinning smugly at a furious looking Aradia

Was Vriska.

Nepeta half-heartedly hoped Karkat would stay in the kitchen, but heard him follow her out a second later.

"What--" He stopped when he saw her.

She had to get Terezi. Where had she gone? She ran toward the hallway, passing Vriska to get there. Their eyes met as they passed, and Vriska's grin widened at her.

She soon tracked Terezi down, standing alone in a study near the end of the hall gripping her cane with both fists.

"Terezi!" Nepeta said. "Vriska is--"

"I know." Terezi interrupted in a biting tone. "I heard her come in."

Nepeta stood awkwardly. "Oh." she said.

A cold laugh came from behind Nepeta and she turned around. Vriska walked into the room, and stopped with one hand on her hip.

"So that hasn't changed at least." she said. "Still memorizing every sound I make?"

"Why are you here, Vriska?" Terezi snarled. "You weren't invited."

Vriska laughed again. "As if! We both know I was."

Nepeta stepped back, trying to edge her way out of the room, but was stopped. Vriska hadn't wandered her way to this end of the house alone. Nepeta saw everyone who'd come to the party lurking in the hallway; well, almost everyone. Aradia and Sollux had stayed behind apparently.

Vriska studied the gathering crowd, then looked back at Terezi.

"Nice little party you've got here!" she said. "Looks like you're missing a few people though. Someone you didn't think you could trust? Don't worry though. I'm here now, at least."

"What do you want, Vriska?" Terezi repeated. Vriska scowled.

"What, not interested in conversation anymore?"

"Not with you."

"Don't act like you're better than me."

"I am better than you. Everyone here is." Terezi brought up her cane and jabbed it into Vriska's chest. "And that's why they're here."

Vriska stared down at the cane, and started to chuckle softly.

"And here I thought I could have some fun here." she said. "Guess that was too much to wish for."

"You didn't think not getting an invitation was a sign?"

Vriska wrapped her fingers around the end of the cane. "But that's how we've always done things, isn't it? When's the last time you invited me to anything? I just show up, and you act like you didn't want me when everyone knows you did."

"Not anymore."

Vriska pulled the cane away from Terezi and threw it across the room.

"What's your problem? Don't act like you've cut me out!" she said, raising her voice into a shout. "Okay, great. You don't want me here! Don't act like you haven't been acting all friendly to me like always, answering my calls, keeping up on me."

"Because you still haven't changed." Terezi said, stepping up to her and pointing a skinny finger at her. "How could I leave you alone in good conscience when you're still getting into things you shouldn't? You're plotting something, like always." she bared her teeth at Vriska and leaned her face close to hers. "You're still my responsibility. Too bad for you; I'm just not on your side anymore."

Vriska was shaking in anger, but she took a second and calmed herself. "So that's what this is about, then?" she asked. "My 'plan'?"

She leaned her head back, and tossed her hair out of her eyes.

There was a sudden and violent noise, and an explosion rippled through the building. Nepeta dropped to the ground and covered her head instinctively. When she looked up, covered in dust and--plaster? She saw Vriska standing in the same spot while Terezi had retreated to the other side of the room. There was a large hole in the wall next to where Terezi had been standing, and rubble coated the floor and all three girls.

Nepeta stood up, rubbing her ears. Vriska and Terezi were shouting at each other, but Nepeta couldn't hear anything but a high pitched ringing in her ears. Terezi looked hysterical.

As Nepeta watched them flail her hearing very slowly started to return.

".......--did you do, what did you do, what did you do??!?!!"

"Calm the hell down, Terezi!! Oh my god. This is ridiculous. What, are you gonna have a panic attack or something?"

Terezi was not calming down. Nepeta ran up to her, then hovered around her awkwardly, not sure what to do. Making a decision, she grabbed Terezi's arm.

Terezi whipped her head in Nepeta's direction, face contorted in fear, and pulled her arm away.

"Terezi!" Nepeta exclaimed, putting her hands on Terezi's shoulder as gently as she could while starting to panic herself. "Can you hear me, Terezi?"

Terezi started to pull away again, then stopped and grabbed desperately at Nepeta's arm. Feeling the fabric of the distinctive coat Nepeta always wore, she threw herself into her arms and sobbed.

If looks could kill Nepeta would be dead already from the glare Vriska'd finally turned onto her. Nepeta still felt like running and hiding, but as Terezi seemed to be... out of commission, she had to do something.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

Vriska laughed. She pushed her bangs off to the side and tucked them behind her ear, displaying the device she had affixed to one lens of her glasses. "What do you think?" she asked.

Nepeta stared at the device. It looked electronic and was shaped vaguely like an eye, with curved spikes coming off one side like eyelashes. Just above where Vriska's eye must be behind it was a circle of bright red glass.

"What is that?"

"A friend of mine made it for me. Do you like it?" Vriska said. "Since she was so eager to hear about my 'plans', I thought she'd want to experience it firsthand."

"What does it do? What did you do to Terezi??" Nepeta shouted.

"I didn't do anything to her!! God, how awful do you people think I am?"

"Pretty awful, Vris." a voice called from the hallway. Vriska ignored it.

"All it does is blow stuff up." she said. "No big deal, really."

"What stuff?"

"Oh, electronic stuff. Anything, actually. Tvs, security cameras, smoke detectors..." she looked pointedly at the gaping hole in the wall. "Anything I want! That's not all it does of course. That'd be boring."

"What else does it do?"

Vriska looked at her again with disdain. "I'm not telling you! You'll just have to figure it out as you go along."

Nepeta did her best to meet the venom in her eyes. "Go along with what?"

"My 'plans'. Since you're clearly so desperate to be part of this, hell, why not?"

"What are you talking about Vriska?"

"Shut the hell up, will you!?" she yelled. "I'm trying to tell you. God. You're such a baby. Can't let someone talk for five minutes?"

Nepeta waited. Vriska hesitated a second, and grinned.

"Well, now it's just weird. Fine though. Well I guess like anyone with a goal in mind I'm trying to take over the world." she said. "I guess. Kind of takes a lot to do that, though. Money, accomplices, and a whole lot of publicity. That's where this comes in handy! I figure I'll start with some smaller stunts; rob a bank or two, take someone important hostage. Take out a few birds with one stone! And hell, this early it doesn't really matter if it's bad publicity, cause there won't be enough of it anyway."

Vriska walked across the room. Nepeta tensed when she got near, but she kept on walking. She picked up Terezi's cane from where she'd thrown it earlier and stared at it in her hands, as though it was her audience.

"So I've got this eye piece to blow through anything that gets in my way, and some other things you don't get to know about yet. That's it, I guess. Hell, I guess it's not all the way thought through yet. I was kind of hoping to work on that a little here."

She turned and stared at Terezi in Nepeta's arms.

"Funny, I was planning to come here to ask her to work with me. One last time, you know? I know she says she hates me now, but she's always so receptive to hearing me out. I guess that was all a trick after all. Damn, she really got me good! Played me like a sucker, cause I guess I just wanted it to be true." she threw her head back and laughed. "Oh well. I guess second best will have to be good enough."

"Second best? What do you mean second best?"

"Oh what does it matter to you?" Vriska snapped. She turned to the door, the cane still in her hands. "There's nothing here for me. I'm getting out of here."

She approached the door and everyone flinched away from her except one person.

"Eridan what the hell do you think you're doing?" she said as he stepped up to block her way. "Get out of my way."

"No fuckin way" he said. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You think you can just say all that shit and we're gonna let you go?"

Vriska smirked. "What are you gonna do about it then?"

He stepped forward. "Well I gotta stop you, don't I?" He grabbed her arm and she shrugged him off. He stepped forward with an arm drawn back to throw a punch, but stopped suddenly.

A knife was held to his throat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." a smooth voice behind him said. He lowered his arm.

"Kan don't do this" he said. "You don't have to help her." Kanaya didn't reply, and pushed him into the room out of the doorway. Vriska walked around them and flashed Kanaya a smile. "Thanks!" she said.

Nepeta stared as Vriska walked away down the hall. At some point Sollux and Aradia had arrived in the hallway, but not even Aradia tried to stop her. Nepeta stared at Kanaya. Why... What? Why would Kanaya be doing this? She shouldn't even be involved.

She was involved though, it became clear, as she shoved Eridan to the ground and straightened up. Her knife began seperating into pieces and underwent a metamorphasis, compacting into a small cylinder that looked the right size for a tube of lipstick. She stowed it away in a pocket and turned to Nepeta.

"Apologize to Terezi for me when she recovers if you can." she said. "And try not to think too badly of me for this. It's a lot more complicated than it looks."

Nepeta was dumbstruck and could say nothing as Kanaya too turned and walked down the hall. It seemed like everyone was. Except for one person, who weaved around the frozen people in the hall and ran after them. Everyone except for--

Oh NO.

Nepeta got Terezi to sit down on the floor and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before getting up to chase after Karkat.

He'd stopped them at the door. Kanaya looked anxious, but Vriska had a wicked grin as she looked at him.

"Vriska, wait-- Don't do this. You don't have to." he said. "This is fucking stupid and you know it. Take over the world? You don't want to do that. I get that you're mad about everything, but-- Come on. We're friends, aren't we?"

Vriska raised one eyebrow and the corners of her mouth turned up to an almost ridiculous extent.

"You better start paying more attention, Karkat. Because haven't you heard the rest of them?" she said. "We aren't."

A fast and high pitched beeping was the only warning they got before the watch on Karkat's arm blew up with a loud bang. Karkat screamed and dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. Vriska and Kanaya vanished out the door, and Nepeta stayed staring in horror at Karkat before chasing after them.

By the time she got outside they were jumping into a car waiting for them and slamming the door. Nepeta caught a glimpse through the window of John driving, looking terrified with sweat pouring down his face, before they sped off.

The mailbox exploded.

Nepeta walked back into the house, wishing desperately for it to have been a dream. Karkat was writhing on the ground, bleeding and screaming his life away. Everyone was panicking, except for Aradia who was dialing for an ambulance on her phone through curses.

At just the right angle, Nepeta saw Terezi wander into the front room, feeling along the walls. Nepeta idly wondered if Vriska still had her cane.

"Nepeta?" Terezi asked into what for all she knew could have been an empty room. "I felt another explosion. What happened?"

Nepeta collapsed to her knees and cried into her hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explosion count: 3


	5. In Which Against Her Better Judgement, A Decision Is Made

Sans Kanaya, the group huddled around in the hospital waiting room. Nepeta watched as Terezi paced viciously back and forth. Her hearing had come back eventually, though she was still having trouble. Their other injured friend, however, had not been so lucky.

"This is so horribubble." Feferi said. "Who would think that something like this would happen to Karkat?"

"Yeah, I think we're all kind of in shock." Sollux said. "Or at least, some of us are. TZ on the other hand is just back two her usual scheming patterns. The least she could do is warn us if a crazy felon is gonna be popping up out of the blue and wrecking our shit."

"They both used to like him SO much, too..."

Aradia stood up without warning.

"I can't take this." she said. "I'm going to go ask about his condition."

She approached the door, but it opened before she could get to it and a doctor walked into the waiting room. Terezi marched over to him, shoving past Aradia.

"How is he? Is he gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine." the doctor said calmly. "He's going to have to stay in the hospital for a little while to recover from his injuries, however, and there's a chance he could lose his hand."

The doctor flipped through some forms on his clipboard. "Are you Ms. Terezi Pyrope?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You're listed as his emergency contact. Could you please come with me?"

"I am?" she said incredulously. "Are you sure? What about his family?"

"We've given them a call as well. This will only take a minute, right this way."

Terezi disappeared with the doctor. Aradia fumed at the door a few seconds longer, then marched back to her seat.

Nepeta hunched over in her chair and stared at her feet. "What are we gonna do, guys?"

There was silence, but soon Eridan spoke up. "Well it's pretty obvious, isn't it? We've got to stop her."

"Stop her, uh, I don't know about that." Tavros said. "That sounds like it might be a bad idea, maybe we should think of a better one."

"Oh don't be such a wimp, we don't even have a choice at this point. Do YOU want her runnin around out there fuckin shit up?"

"Big talk considering what happened when you DID try to stop her." Sollux said. "Forgive me if I can't help being a little skeptical about our chances."

"Like the same thing's gonna happen if theres not an enemy I don't know at my back. I still can't believe Kan. I knew she was in over her head, but I didn't think it'd gotten this far."

Aradia made a frustrated noise and stared at the wall. Eridan turned in her direction.

"And what about you, you're on my side, right?" he said. "There's no way you're not gonna get in your car an try to run her over or somethin after this."

"Hey asshole, how about you NOT talk to AA right now? Or wait, since it's you, make that ever, thanks."

"I can talk to whoever I want so how about you suck it? I'm pretty sure I'm right anyway, that's a 'make her pay' face if I've ever seen it. And I have."

"I said shut up already, god. Pay attention to how other people are feeling for once in your stupid life."

Feferi groaned in frustration and rubbed at her eyes. "I don't even want to think about trying to get back at her." she said. "Why can't she just leave us alone? It's not like she's any of our responsibility anyway. I have too much going on already to do something aboat her!"

"Fef, come on, don't be like that."

"Don't even start with me, mister! If you think there's anything you can do against her alone--"

"Well that's why I'm trying to get the rest of you in on it, isn't it?"

"The rest of us don't want anything to do with her! And don't think Aradia is gonna help you, just because she's mad. Once we've seen Karcrab the three of us are going home and having a NICE LONG TALK about how revenge saves nobody. And you're not invited!"

Tavros wheeled over to where Nepeta was curled up in her chair.

"What do you think," he asked. "On the topic of getting more involved with Vriska and her problems. I know Terezi's committed to dragging you into this, probably against your will and better judgement, but do you actually want to?"

"I..." Nepeta paused. She... didn't want to let Terezi down. But what could she do? All she wanted to do was go home and curl up into a ball under her blankets. She wished she'd never met Vriska. She was terrified of her!

"I don't want to stop her. I don't want to have anything to do with her. I don't care what she does, I just want to pretend I never knew her!"

"Then what's going to happen to Karkat?"

Nepeta looked up at Terezi's voice. She had come back to the waiting room and was standing in front of Nepeta, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Purrobably nothing?" Nepeta asked. "It's not like things can get any worse for him."

"Yes they can! You're not thinking about it at all." Terezi shook her head violently. "I just spoke to him. He's awake, by the way. And even if you're ready to cut Vriska out of your life once and for all, he isn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he wants to go after her! He wants to stop her, or for us to do it." she said. "He thinks it's his fault that she's doing all this, he always does. If you don't do something about her then he'll just keep getting involved."

"What about you?"

Terezi frowned and turned her face away. "It goes without saying that I'm committed to this. I'll stop her even if I have to do it alone." she said. "But it's not like anybody really trusts me to do that anymore."

The others fidgetted in their chairs and looked anywhere but at her. Sollux coughed into his hand.

"Look TZ." he said. "Don't get me wrong. You're clearly every bit as batshit insane as she is. But you're my friend, and I'm not going two let you get intwo this alone. She's two dangerous. I'm in if you are."

Feferi was less easily convinced. "I just don't feel comfortable doing something like this. I mean how are we supposed to stop her? Is there anything we even CAN do?" she said. She tugged on a strand of her hair and bit her lip. "I guess... if Nepeta gets involved then I will too. I just don't want to feel like a liability."

"It goes without saying that I'm in." Eridan said. "And for the record Ter I always trusted you."

"Thanks, Eridan. Coming from you that means a lot."

"Wait, really?"

Terezi turned to the final member of their group, who was still staring obstinately at the wall.

"And what about you?" she asked. "Are you in or not, Aradia?"

Aradia didn't turn to face her, but spoke clearly and quietly.

"It's not your fault." she said. "This was always going to happen. Your intervention, as well."

Terezi frowned. "Well thanks for the creepy vote of confidence." she said. "But I was kind of asking you as my friend, not an oracle."

Aradia got to her feet and walked up to Terezi.

"By that I mean our intervention." she said. "Nothing will stop me from making sure she gets what she deserves this time."

Terezi nodded. "Glad to have you on board." she said.

Terezi turned back to Nepeta. "So what do you say?" she asked. "Are you going to help us?"

Nepeta hesitated. "I..."

Terezi crouched down in front of Nepeta's chair and put her hand on her shoulder. "She needs to be stopped, Nepeta. And if we don't do it then who will? If we let her do whatever she wants then more people will get hurt, like Karkat."

Karkat... Nepeta thought about him, bleeding all over the ground like that, and almost couldn't take it. She wanted to protect him, to protect everyone, but what could she do? It wouldn't even make a difference what she said, would it?

Terezi's grip tightened on her shoulder. "We need you, Nepeta."

A flicker of a memory tugged on Nepeta's mind. Terezi's hands clinging to her jacket. Terezi asking for her help. Now, again.

They really did need her, didn't they?

"Okay..." she said reluctantly. "I'll help."

Terezi stood up and smiled, her mouth tight and narrow. "Great! Now that that's settled, we should go see Karkat before discussing it any further. Like I said he's awake now, and he'll want to see all of you."

Everyone got up and went towards the door. Tavros pulled his chair up among them and eyed the narrow gap in the wall.

"Is there maybe, a wider door somewhere?" he said.

Nepeta stayed behind. Terezi stopped at the doorway and turned back to her.

"Aren't you coming?" she said, scrunching her nose up quizzically.

"No, I don't think I should." Nepeta said.

"Why not? You want to see him, right?"

"Because..." Karkat's face flashed in her head, desperately pleading with Vriska. On the floor, screaming. Mumbling bashfully into his glass. "Because it's me. I don't think he'd want to see me."

Terezi frowned, then walked through the door. "Well, suit yourself!" she called back.

Nepeta turned and walked out of the hospital.


	6. In Which Equius

Equius glanced at the clock. It was late. The sun had gone down hours ago, and bugs were chirping noisily in the rain outside his window. He got up from his seat and shoved the project he had been working on to the side of his table. He could finish it tomorrow.

He walked downstairs and went around turning off the lights he had left on. As he moved to the last switch near the stairs he heard a soft and shaky knock at his front door, quiet and barely audible. His hand hovered by the switch. He went to the door.

Amidst the dark and rain was a small figure, huddling inside her jacket with her hair plastered to her face. Nepeta.

Equius moved aside and she walked inside without a word.

He turned on the lights in the kitchen and sat her down at the table. He put on a pot of water and rummaged through his cupboards for the tea. Nepeta's favorite. He usually never drank it, so there was always a box around.

He poured the tea and water into a cup and brought it to her, sitting down across from her.

"Tell me what happened."

She did. She told him everything--her promise to Terezi, the party, Vriska showing up, Karkat's injury. She told him Terezi's plan to stop her, Aradia's thirst for revenge, and that she'd agreed to join them. She told him about Karkat's hand, that she couldn't face him, didn't know when he'd be out of the hospital. She told him with a calm face and steady voice, never looking up from her full cup of tea. He thought she was being strong, but perhaps she'd already spent all her tears. She might find more later.

"I understand." he said succinctly. "When are you meeting with the others to further discuss your plans? I intend to be there."

She looked up at him. "Really?" she said. "I thought you'd say I-- that I shouldn't do it. It's too dangerous. I shouldn't be doing it, I should just... Should just..."

He reached across the table and put his hand on hers.

"I could say that." he said. "There's a lot of discouraging things i might say. It is too dangerous. Your friends should be ashamed of putting you in this position."

He took off his sunglasses, resting them on the table, and looked into her eyes.

"But that's not what you need to hear right now." he said. "You're in pain. I can see that. I can also see that you don't want to do it regardless. But you'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

She stared at him, with her expression still frozen in place but her shoulders shaking ever so subtly.

"I'll be right there with you." he said. "It's the only thing I can do right now."

Her face lifted slowly, then shattered. She pulled her hands back and covered her face, sobbing into the sleeves of her jacket. Equius got up and walked around the table to her side, and wrapped his arms gently around her. She sobbed into his chest.

"It's not fair..." she cried, voice shuddering with every sob. He pet the back of her head softly.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right and he wanted nothing more then to pull her out somehow. Convince her not to go through with it, clear her phone book and curse the name of everyone who'd gotten her wrapped in this. Curse himself too for his carelessness. But it would accomplish nothing.

It wasn't fair to Nepeta. Someone like her should never have to be torn apart like this. But he had long sworn to do whatever was right for her and that wasn't always the most obvious option.

If she was to get involved in this horrible incident one way or another he'd make sure he was there too. Nothing would stop him from being there for her.

Curse Vriska for all of her foolishness.


	7. In Which A Boy Gets Fucking Dumped And Donuts Are Eaten

Nepeta was nervous, sitting in Karkat's hospital room with the rest of the group, refusing to meet his eyes. But Equius was sitting next to her, calm and cooperative and not making a single disparaging comment about anyone in the room, and his prescence comforted her. She could handle it.

Terezi wasn't happy about him being there, she could tell. She refused to face his direction, and was quick to redirect the flow of conversation every time he spoke up. Nepeta wondered if she was angry with her for bringing him. She hadn't thought Terezi's dislike of him was that serious.

Karkat coughed into his good hand and spoke up. "So, uh, don't get me wrong it's great to see you guys, but you're not here for pleasantries are you? Are we gonna talk business or what, cause that's what I was prepared for here. Not to sit around being assholes to each other about how great friends we are."

"Be patient Karkat!" Terezi said, turning and pointing a shiny new cane at him. "We are not all here! When the remaining two members of our group arrive we can go over a game plan. Although," she turned to the door and frowned. "They sure are taking their time getting here."

As if on cue the door opened, and Feferi skipped in pulling a grouchy looking Eridan along behind her.

"Sorry guys!" she said bashfully. "We got out of class late. You weren't waiting long, were you?"

Terezi raised her cane and poked it into Eridan's face, stopping an inch from his forehead.

"Eridan," she said with a scowl. "How long have we been waiting."

He turned his face away and glared at the wall. "Well you said to meet at 3 on the dot so about 25 minutes I guess? We stopped somewhere on the way for coffee."

Feferi covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry!" she said. "Eridan just gets so antsy without enough coffee, and I didn't want him to be a pain."

"Look I told you Fef, I'm fine. You're just the one causing trouble here. Everyone thinks I'm fine."

"It's true that our meeting is way more important than Eridan's relative level of douchiness." Terezi agreed. She turned back to face the rest of the group. "But this brings up a good point! There's no clear overlap in our schedules as it is. Especially with a large group, coordination is key. If we can't be sure that everyones going to be in the same place at the same time, there's no point even thinking about something like going after Vriska."

Her cane whipped around and stopped to point at Nepeta. "Nepeta." Terezi said. "When do you have classes?"

Nepeta gulped, intimidated. Terezi usually faced people when talking to them, even though there was no real need for her too, but she was turned defiantly away right now.

"Well, I have the one with you on Thursdays in the morning, then another then and every day except weekends and Tuesday. And Equius only has classes at night, but he works in the day so he--"

"Exactly!" Terezi interrupted. "And I have school full time, as do Sollux and Tavros. And Karkat did too, at least before all this. Who knows what his schedule's like now! I'd hazard a guess it involves the words "visiting hours" a few times."

"You know you could just ask me about that?" Karkat said. "I mean I get that you're trying to make a point, but seriously. Right here?"

"The point is," Terezi went on. "We just don't have time. There's too many of us. We have to cut it down a little."

A shock of unrest shuddered through the group.

"What do you mean, cut it down?" Sollux asked.

"Some of us will not be able to stay part of the group." she explained. "We're going to have to form a much smaller team of people to stop Vriska--maybe five or six people at the most. There are nine of us now, so... We'll have to decide who doesn't make the cut."

Feferi frowned. "Do you have to say it like that? These are all our friends--your friends. It's not like this is a job or a class that you can just kick people out of. If there are people that won't be able to precipitate that's fine, boat..."

"Fine." Terezi said. "I'll try to be nice about it."

"Would it reely be so hard??"

"I said I will!" Terezi sighed. "So, do we have any volunteers? I know everyone agreed earlier, but if someone's sitting out it makes the most sense for it to be someone who already doesn't want to."

Nepeta thought she might have been imagining it, but she was sure the way Terezi turned just so her face was visible to Nepeta and Equius was intentional. Everything she did was generally intentional! But... She wanted Nepeta to stay, so... If this was about Equius, well she'd have to be dissappointed! He was staying.

"I, uh..."

Everyone turned to face Tavros, who fidgetted nervously in his wheelchair.

"I guess if we're picking people to not fight against Vriska I volunteer," he said. "Even though I'm not sure I need to because I don't remember ever agreeing in the first place, I said it was a stupid idea and I think most people ignored me. Including you, probably."

Terezi frowned at him. "I have to say I'm disappointed in you, Tavros!" she said.

"Well if that's the case I'm sorry, but maybe you should base your expectations on things that make sense, and maybe have less of them about me."

"I know you've got a long and difficult history with Vriska, but the fact is--"

"Okay I'm going to interrupt you there. Not to offend you, even though it definitely will, but you of all people really have no business bringing up my history with Vriska. Considering yours I mean."

Terezi scowled and turned quickly away. "Fine!" she said sharply. "Tavros is out. You're right, I have no idea why I expected anything else. Anyone else?"

No one else volunteered, but it wasn't long at all before someone spoke.

"No, except for him I'm pretty sure everyone else wanted to be here." Eridan said. "We all made that decision, I can't imagine anyone optin out now of all times."

"It's funny you say that!" Terezi said loudly. She swung her cane around and stopped it in his face again.

She pushed the cane forward and bumped it into his forehead. "You're out." she declared.

"What!?" he said. "What the fuck Ter, why me? If anyone belongs here it's me."

"You were late, so you're out."

"WOW, what? That's bullshit. Ter, look--"

"I've made my decision. I'm sure the group agrees with me."

"First of all whether they agree or not it isn't your decision to make. And second of all, wow, is that the best you can do? "Because I was late"? Who do you think that's fooling."

She scowled and he, seeming to forget she couldn't actually see him, met her gaze.

"Come on. Tavros leaves, and now you kick me out? It's pretty obvious you're just bankin on the chance to get rid of everyone who had a thing with Vris besides you."

The room was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop. Terezi said nothing, but contorted her face so tightly Nepeta thought it had to hurt.

"I'm right aren't I, I knew it." Eridan said. "This is so fuckin transparent Ter, everyone knows the way you are about her. What's next, are you gonna get rid of Ar too?"

Aradia, who had been silent the whole conversation, looked up sharply at the nickname.

"Absolutely not!" Terezi snapped. "Aradia is here to stay. And I'd thank you to not try and make me look bad right now, Eridan. Everyone here can see through your bullshit."

"Then who is it? You're sure talkin like you know exactly who else you want to get rid of. So who is it? Who's out?"

Terezi growled under her breath.

"Feferi!"

"Oh no!"

"It's not you." Terezi said, turning and stepping back from Eridan. "I was just going to ask you to tell Eridan here that if he doesn't wipe that smug look off his face it's going to stick that way."

Eridan dropped his smirk and frowned in confusion. "How--"

"Oh thank god!" Feferi sighed in relief. "I thought... Whale, I was late too, after all, and it was my fault, so... I really do want to be here! I made that decision myself, last night. I just can't leave the rest of you alone."

Terezi picked up her cane in both hands and walked back into the center of the room. "As a matter of fact I do have someone else I think should leave." she said. She stopped in front of Karkat's bed and thumped her cane on the ground. "But before that, I can see there's something else I need to discuss.

"Everyone here is aware of my former feelings for Vriska." she continued. "I am not going to deny that. But I think I've made it clear that I'm done with her, and she's done with me. After all we've been through I consider it my responsibility to stop her. But it's not my feelings drawing me to this conclusion; it's my sense of justice.

"She has to be stopped. That isn't a matter of opinion. And as the person who knows her the best, I feel I'm the most well equipped to stop her. The most well equipped to lead people in stopping her.

"I know it's asking a lot for you to trust me. I'm not the reason some of you are here!" Nepeta fidgetted in her seat, looking at Feferi and Equius guiltily. Terezi continued. "But know that I'm only doing what I think is best. And even if you can't trust me, at least trust my choice."

She stopped and went silent, standing wordlessly in front of Karkat's bed. She crossed her arms over her chest, fiddling with her shirt on her arm as though expecting longer sleeves. Nepeta's jacket felt heavy on her shoulders.

Karkat was looking up at Terezi, obliviously waiting for her to finish her train of thought. Nepeta knew he'd agree with whatever Terezi said. Karkat... Karkat, oh Karkat... Nepeta stood up.

"You're right, Terezi!" she said. "No one else knows what to do, we really do need you. I wouldn't know what to do about Vriska... I don't think any one of us knows what to do here. Which is why we need to work together."

She approached Terezi and took her arm. "So I don't think we need to get rid of anybody else. Even just two people not joining us frees up the schedules a lot! And we may need everybody else. So-- I think this many people is fine."

Terezi frowned, seemed to be focusing on her intently. Nepeta squeezed her arm. She nodded.

"Got it." she said. She pulled away from Nepeta and turned into the group."Alright then! Does anyone have a problem with this? No? Alright! Let's get out of here. We can go get donuts on me! You guys like donuts don't you don't lie to me." She grinned and turned back to Nepeta for a second before walking out the door. "Besides! I think Nepeta could use a chance to finally be alone with Karkat, don't you?"

Everyone filed out of the room after her. Equius stopped by her side and looked at her.

"It's fine!" she said. "Go on with them, I'll catch up. I have something I want to say to Karkat."

He lingered a moment, but nodded and left. He closed the door behind him and the sound echoed. She was alone with Karkat. She turned to face him, aware that her face was red and she had no idea how to say what she wanted to say.

He grinned awkwardly at her. "Hey." he said. "What's up? You weren't here with the others the other day."

"Yeah... I didn't think you'd want to see me."

He looked down at the bandages around his arm.

"Look, Nepeta, I'm sorry." he said.

"You don't need to apologize Karkat. You didn't do anything wrong."

"No, no, that's not what I mean." he hesitated. "I... had something I wanted to tell you at the party, but I didn't get a chance. Everything went to shit before I knew what was even going on. I'd say it now, but... this is kind of a shitty time, all things considered."

"Yeah, it is..." Nepeta said. "Karkat... I..."

"Okay if you're going to say what I think you're saying I--"

"Karkat."

"Look, I just. First of all, equally shitty timing probably? Like, wow. I just lost a god damn hand. Sorry, not sorry. And second of all, I already... Well you know I already--"

"Karkat you're not on the team!"

He froze mid rant. He dropped his other hand which he had raised to gesture with his excited speech. His mouth hung open.

"I. What? What did you just say?"

"You're off the team Karkat, I'm sorry, I just didn't want her to have to say it herself..."

"What, no. No. What the fuck Nepeta, I'm coming with you guys."

"You can't."

"What the fuck do you mean I can't, this is bullshit. Bring Terezi back in here, there's no way she told you to do this. I saw her, she didn't say anything to you. You're just--"

"She doesn't want you joining us, Karkat! You were never supposed to be this involved in this. She doesn't have to say anything, I know already."

Karkat fell back against his pillow.

"What do you mean, involved in this. Obviously I already am."

"You... The party was an invitation to Vriska. A taunt. You were there because... because you were one of the people Vriska liked. But no one knew this would happen. You weren't supposed to get hurt. And now you're in the hospital and everything. We can't bring you with us."

"But I." Karkat was nearly speechless. "Are you saying I was just bait?"

"I'm sorry..."

"No, wait, okay I don't care about that. Just don't. Look, are you just kicking me out because of my hand? I mean that's shitty, but okay they're fitting me for a prosthetic in a day or so and I can get out of here soon, I won't be dragging you guys down or anything."

"It's not that."

"Then what the fuck is it?" he snapped. "Tell me what the fuck is wrong, I mean you assholes brought me into this mess in the first place and now you're just kicking me out? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"That's exactly why! Karkat, just... Listen to me."

He settled against the headboard. "I'm listening. But I'm calling Terezi the fucking second you leave, this is all bullshit."

"Karkat, you already got hurt once because of this. None of us want to see that happen again."

"Maybe you should have thought about that first then? Wow, what a fucking phenomenal idea I just had there. Who would've thought just, NOT getting me blown up and then dumping me was a possibility."

"I didn't think about any of it! I was just doing what Terezi wanted. And she..."

Nepeta looked away and bit her lip. "She doesn't want you to get hurt either, but... She doesn't want to be responsible for you."

Karkat said nothing.

"Please, Karkat. Just... get better. Pretend none of this is happening. Vriska doesn't seem interested in you anymore either, and that's a good thing!!! Just... Stay out of it. I couldn't take it if something else happened to you. And neither does she, so..." Nepeta trailed off. Her thoughts were disconnected. She knew she was doing a shitty job of breaking this to him but...

A flash of pale fingers pulling at her sleeves.

At least Terezi wasn't doing it. It would hurt them both if she did. She wouldn't try to make it gentle. She'd lie, lie lie lie to his face so he never wanted to see them again. Terezi pretended she only cared about the results, and hurt whoever got involved along the way, even if it was someone she cared about. Even if it was herself. Even if it was Karkat.

Nepeta just wanted it to end.

She waited to see if he'd object any further, but he didn't. Nepeta turned and walked out of the room.

Equius was waiting just on the other side of the door. She let it swing closed beind her and just stood with him.

"Your friend Ms Pyrope told me where the rest of them are going, I thought it would only be fair if I waited for you so you could come along as well." he said.

"Were you listening?" she asked.

"Of course not, I wouldn't do that."

"You're a terrible liar."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

He didn't reply. Nepeta wrapped her fingers around his and started walking.

"Come on, Equius. Let's go get donuts."


	8. In Which A Plan Is Discussed And A Lover's Spat Is Begun

"Ok I want two glazed, three chocolates, four strawberry and vanilla ones, one eclair, one jelly and one french cruller."

"Will that be all?"

"Oh right, wait. Hey AA, do you want anything?"

"Boston kreme."

"Yeah like 20 of those."

Nepeta sighed. She was still feeling guilty about telling Karkat he couldn't be part of their plans. She knew it was necessary, that she'd never be able to live with herself if anything else happened to him and he was a liability on top of that, but it still hurt. He had really wanted to be part of this... And did she have to mention Terezi?

Sollux returned to their table with the donuts and a glass of milk for Equius. Terezi reached over and snatched a donut out of his hands.

"Hey, that one was mine."

"Not anymore!" she took a bite, then leaned across the table towards Nepeta. "So!" she said. "Let's talk business."

"Right now?" Feferi said. "But Karkat's still in the hospital. I wouldn't want him to miss anything important."

"Karkat will not be joining us." Terezi said. "Not now, and not later. Isn't that right, Nepeta?"

Nepeta looked down at the table. "Y-yeah. I told him it would be better if he stayed out of this."

"He wouldn't be okay with that." Aradia said, not looking up from her donuts. "But I am."

"But..." Feferi looked conflicted. "But Krabsnack has to be part of it, doesn't he? We're doing this for him!" Her eyes darted worriedly between everyone's faces. "Right? Sollux, you agree with me, right?"

"KK's an idiot." Sollux said, putting his donut down and looking away. "He'd just get himself hurt even worse. It's enough that we're going against Vriska, we don't need two bring him along."

Feferi looked horrified. "Did you know they were going to exclude him?"

"Well I mean, not exactly. But it wasn't two hard two figure out it would happen."

"I can't BELIEVE this." Feferi huffed and turned quickly away from him. "I'm not okay with this at all."

"But Feferi..." Nepeta spoke up. "It's too dangerous. You don't want him to get hurt again either, do you?"

"We're all just as likely to get hurt!" Feferi turned and frowned at Nepeta. "You were the one that decided to kick him out, right? I'm not speaking to either of you anymore."

She picked up her donuts and turned her chair around in a huff, facing away from the table with her arms crossed. Nepeta pulled at her sleeves. Feferi was right... It wasn't fair. But she didn't understand... he had to... he had to be safe...

Equius put his glass of milk down on the table with a loud sound.

"Excuse me," he said. "You're not thinking about Nepeta's feelings in this." Feferi pouted, and he glared at her through his dark glasses. "Everyone knows how strongly Nepeta feels about Karkat. Even if I can't for the life of me imagine what about him deserves that kind of regard. Of course she wants him here, but if he's a liability there's no sense in it"

Terezi leaned back in her chair and smiled at him for the first time. "And here I thought you weren't capable of coherent thought. I guess you're not so bad to have around after!"

"Furthermore, speaking of him as though he's somehow entitled to be one of us is quite frankly--"

She cut him off. "Yeah no one cares."

Finishing the rest of her donut, Terezi crossed her arms on the table in front of her and leaned in. "Back on topic then. We need to make a plan of action. Who wants to start talking first?"

"Although I wasn't at the party where Vriska revealed her plan, Nepeta told me all about it" Equius said. "She said Vriska mentioned robbing a bank. Was this an actual part of her plan, or was it likely she was saying it for show?"

"She was bragging." Aradia muttered. "But now that she's said it, she's going to do it. We can consider that a sure thing."

"Very well. Then we should begin by determining which bank, and when, so we can stop her."

Feferi turned back to the table, holding on to the back of her chair. "How are we going to do that?" she asked. "How many banks are even in this city?"

"We'll have to gather some information." Terezi said. "Make a list and find out which banks are better targets. If we were going to rob a bank, which one would it be? Vriska's not that complicated."

"Well I mean if you put it that way."

Everyone turned to look at Sollux. He continued. "It's definitely got to be Benedict Bank, right? I mean it's brand new, the security system can't be implemented that well yet. Not to mention the building layout is posted online right now."

Everyone stared at him. He fiddled with his glasses, flustered. "What? It's not like I've put a lot of thought into it. It's just new. Don't you guys think about how to break intwo stuff when you see something new?"

"Not usually, no"

Feferi giggled. "It's just because you're a hacker, isn't it?" she said. Then suddenly remembering she wasn't speaking to him, determinedly buried her attention in her donut.

"I don't exactly do that, but I think I can relate," Equius said. "Whenever I see a new piece of machinery or robotics I always feel a strong urge to take it apart and see how it works."

"Really?" Sollux asked.

Terezi put a hand up to end the discussion. "That's great." she said. "Benedict Bank is perfect. It's small, too, so she probably wouldn't have too much trouble convincing John to go along. If there's not much for them to lose the moral dilemna is lesser."

Nepeta finished her donuts and spoke up. "So we know which bank she'll go after. But what do we do now?"

"Think about what she wants." Terezi said. "She wants attention. Publicity. We don't know what she's really after, but we know how she's gonna get it. She wants this to be a big deal. So we just make sure it isn't! We can apprehend her before she does it, or just get there before she does and make it impossible for her to gain anything out of it."

"What, so, break in first? Yeah sure THAT sounds like a good idea. Sign me up."

"Do you disagree, Sollux?" Aradia spoke up. "Weren't you just talking about how easy it would be"

"Well I mean yeah, but... Talking about it isn't the same as actually DOING it. I don't know, doesn't that sound kind of like... Defeating the point? We break in two stop her from breaking in?"

"Wrong. We break in to stop her from getting what she wants." Terezi corrected. "I couldn't care less about some bank and neither should you! But if her plans start off strong she'll just start gathering momentum, until she has too much success and too many resources to stop her. We have to be prepared to go to any lengths--she's already shown she's made the same decision."

"For what it's worth, I'm in. Even though that was obvious. We all are." Aradia said, biting into another cream filled donut.

Nepeta and Feferi stared expectantly at Sollux. He threw up his hands.

"Ugh, fine!" he said. "As if there was any way I wouldn't get involved anyway, why would I expect not two."

"Alright." Terezi folded her hands, satisfied. "So we're agreed: we're going to break into the bank before she does. As for the details, there'll definitely be security cameras, right? We'll need to do something to disable those. Can you do that, Equius?"

"Well, I--" he hesitated. She tilted her head expectantly.

"Well???"

"Are you just going to cut me off again once I answer"

She grinned. "Just keep it short."

"Yes, I can prepare something for that."

"Good. Now... What else do we need to think about?"

Feferi bit her lip. "Well..." she said, unsure. "So what's the plan right now again? We break in, shut off the cameras, and then what? Just wait for her?"

"Yes, that's right!"

"But we don't know when she's coming! We can't just do this every night until we get lucky. What if we get caught? Oar what if she finds out, and does something else while we're preoccupied? Oar--"

"Your worries are very valid." Terezi interrupted. "That's why we'll need to gather more information before we do this. We'll need to find out when she's going to make her move."

"Whale, I guess that makes sense."

"Feferi."

"Uh. Yes?"

"That's going to be your job."

"Wh-- What? Wait!!!" Feferi dropped her donut and stood up. "You want me to find out when she's gonna do it? How am I supposed to do that?"

"That's up to you!"

"But... GOSH Terezi! This is kind of a lot to expect of somebody." Feferi pouted. "Wouldn't you be better at that kind of thing anyway?"

"No! I definitely won't be able to." Terezi said. "Also sit down. I can't get information from Vriska or her cohorts because they already know I'm their enemy! As far as they know, you've got nothing to do with this."

"Well, I guess..." Feferi sat back down at the table. "But still, I wouldn't even know where to start. How do I do it? I can't just ask."

"You're cute and friendly. You'll figure something out!" Terezi grinned. "Try getting close to John. Ask him what he's doing lately, press him down for a schedule. You're right that you can't ask about this, or about Vriska, but it should still work out. Who knows! You could discover you have a real talent for this."

Feferi still looked unsure.

"Tell you what." Terezi said. "I'll give you some tips later, a starting point or two. It'll be fine, you'll see!"

"Alright, fine!"

"Good! Then that's settled." Terezi finished off the rest of her donut and stood up, grabbing her cane off the table and planting it resolutely into the ground. "We'll meet up later. Sollux, email that bank floorplan to Aradia. You know what to do with it, right Aradia?"

"Of course."

"All right! Now, I have somewhere to be."

Terezi walked out of the shop. Everyone else got up in time and wandered out after her, Aradia stopping at the counter for a box to carry her donuts in. Feferi looked down at the floor and saw her last donut where she'd dropped it earlier.

"Oh, SHELL."

Nepeta stayed in her seat for a while, and Equius sat with her. He stayed silent, waiting for her to broach a topic.

"I..." she said. "What's my job?"

Equius picked up his glass of milk.


	9. In Which A Spat Continues And A Girl Gets A Mysterious Text Message

Nepeta walked down the street with Aradia. It had been a few days since they'd discussed their plans with the group, and Nepeta wasn't really sure how much closer they were to putting their plan into motion. It certainly didn't help that Nepeta might as well not even be involved! She'd asked Equius about what he was doing, but he said it was fairly simple and there wasn't much to explain. And then when he explained anyway, it didn't seem simple at all. She'd never really been interested in robots and electronics and stuff. She wasn't sure why she'd bothered.

"So Aradia, how come you're all alone today?" she said. "Don't you usually hang out with Sollux and Fefurry?"

"Sollux and Feferi are fighting." Aradia said, sounding a lot less upset about it than she probably should be. Then again, she almost never sounded upset. Unless it was the angry murderey kind, anyway. "They don't want to see each other right now, and it would be wrong for me to choose sides. It would imbalance our relationship. So I'm not going to."

"Hm... That doesn't seem fair to you though, does it?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, why should you have to stay out of it? It's your relationship too. And it's not like you don't have an opinion."

"It's not a matter of not having an opinion. It's a matter of being considerate. This is important to Feferi. It would hurt her if I acted like she was wrong. And I won't team up against Sollux. It wears down on him."

Bluh! Nepeta supposed that made sense. But still... They should all just make up already. How many fights had they even had at this point? It was wreaking havoc on Nepeta's shipping charts. (Tucked carefully and discreetly into one of her notebooks, where no one could mistakenly see it again and avoid her for nearly a month.)

Aradia hesitated. "I do have an opinion." she said. "I think this is silly. Excluding Karkat doesn't hurt him. In the long run it'll be better. Our group isn't exactly close-knit, but all of us care about him. If he was in danger it would jeapordize all of us."

"Yeah..." Nepeta kicked a rock in front of her as she walked. Yeah, it really would.

"Besides, he's not exactly taking this seriously."

Nepeta looked up. "What do you mean?" she said.

"He experienced first hand what Vriska's capable of. He lost a hand. He's going to need a prosthetic. And he's lucky. He could have died, instead. But..." Aradia paused. "He acts like nothing happened. He talks about our plans like there's a positive endgame. He thinks she can be redeemed."

Nepeta didn't have anything to say. She'd never thought about that. Vriska being redeemed... Wasn't it obvious that could never happen?

"He'd only bring us down." Aradia summed up. "So I think this is the right thing to do. Feferi will accept it eventually, I'm not going to try and make her."

"Okay..."

Nepeta stayed silent for a little while, thinking.

"...Hey Aradia?" she asked eventually. "The job Terezi asked you to do, what is it? She said you'd know what to do. Do you?"

"Yes. She had Sollux send me the building floorplans. I'm analyzing them for architectural weaknesses, and choreographing our strategy. It looks like it'll be fairly simple."

"So, you're almost done then?"

"I'm going over it again tonight, but yes."

"Oh."

Aradia looked over at her. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Not really, no." Nepeta hesitated. Nothing was wrong. Terezi's plan was going through fine. She just wished that she...

"Hey Aradia, do you know why Terezi wanted me here?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that she gave everyone but me a job. I don't have anything to do, I don't even know how far we are from being ready." Nepeta said. "She convinced me to join and I felt like she needed me but realistically she purrobably doesn't."

Aradia took a while to answer, and Nepeta walked along beside her in silence, anxiously anticipating her answer.

"I could give you something to do," Aradia said eventually. "But it sounds like you're specifically concerned about Terezi, not just restless. You should ask her."

"I don't know if I can."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just..." Nepeta stopped. Why couldn't she ask Terezi? "I... I'm afraid of what she might say."

"What might she say?"

"I don't know! I don't know what she'll say, I never do. And it doesn't help that we've barely said anything straight in this whole Vriskers thing, it's all just 'hey Nepeta, can you read my mind today!?' and it's not that I _can't_ , I pay attention and she's good at dropping hints, but I don't _want_ hints!"

Aradia was quiet.

"I've never had that problem with her." she said. "She'll give you a straight answer if you ask her."

Nepeta sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"I think..." Aradia hesitated. Nepeta stared at her. "I think she wants to rely on you." she said. "She doesn't have many people she believes she can count on. She's wearing herself thin over Vriska, again, and she feels like she needs you to back her up in case she falls. It's not your responsibility. But for the record, I think you're doing a great job."

"But, I--"

Nepeta was interrupted by a short and high pitched ring. Aradia took out her phone and flipped it open, staring at what looked like a text.

"Who is it? Is something going on?" Nepeta asked, attention fully diverted. Maybe it was Feferi or Sollux, ready to make up. Or maybe it was Terezi, with more instructions. Nepeta wondered if she knew Nepeta was with Aradia right now. She always knew things it didn't seem like she should.

"Nothing." Aradia said. "It looks like I'm not going to be alone today after all." She snapped her phone shut. "I have to go, Nepeta. You should go see Terezi."

"I... Yeah."

They walked away in separate directions.


	10. In Which Two People Attempt Healthy Communication And Have Some Degree Of Success

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i started this chapter in 2015 but most of it was written this month oops

Nepeta found Terezi walking along a path in the park near the edge of town. It had been a lucky guess to find her there; theyd spent a lot of time playing there together when they were younger. Nepeta wondered if Terezi had been thinking about her too.

"Hey Nepeta!" she said, as Nepeta approached. "How's it going? It's not long now until we're ready to go."

"Is it?" Nepeta asked. "I wouldn't really know."

"I've been giving Feferi some lessons on social espionage. She's coming along pretty well! I think she's got a real knack for it. We're just waiting for her to get the date from John and we can move."

"Oh, okay."

Nepeta fidgetted awkwardly, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. Terezi grinned at her.

"Come walk with me, Nepeta!" she said. Nepeta did.

They wandered through the trees and grass, wind blowing through the leaves and making the flowers on the ground shiver. It should have been peaceful, but Nepeta couldn't make herself relax.

Terezi had clearly picked up on it. Nepeta wasn't even surprised at this point.

"What's wrong, Nepeta?" she asked.

"W-what? Nothing's wrong!" Nepeta lied half-heartedly. It wasn't like any kind of deceit ever worked on Terezi anyway.

"Yes it is, just tell me!"

"I don't know what you're stalking about!"

Terezi frowned and turned away, dropping the subject surprisingly easy.

"You'd tell _Equius_ if he was here, wouldn't you?" she muttered under her breath. Nepeta stared at her.

Nepeta sighed. She had to say it, she really did.

"Terezi..." she said.

Terezi snapped her head around to face her. "Yeah?" she asked eagerly.

"Terezi... why do you want me here?"

Terezi scrunched up her eyebrows and quirked her lip. "What do you mean?" she asked, seeming genuinely confused.

"It's just... You don't really _need_ me, do you?" Nepeta mumbled. "I mean, you've got everything under control, and everyone has something impurrtant to do but me. It seems like you'd be just fine without me. So..."

"That's so dumb, of course I need you Nepeta!" Terezi said.

"But why! What do you need me for? How could I pawsibly help you at all?"

Terezi was quiet for a minute--for too long. Nepeta squirmed under her scrutiny, for the first time in a while not knowing what she was thinking.

She was quiet when she replied, too. "Do you really not know?"

"I-- no, I don't!" Nepeta snapped. She was getting uncomfortable. She was getting frustrated. "Of course I don't know! How could I, if you never _tell_ me? Terezi, I--"

Nepeta stopped talking and breathed in to gather herself, to connect her thoughts. Terezi for once didn't take advantage of the pause to put forward her own point, didn't take control of the conversation. Didn't say anything at all. _Good_. Nepeta needed to do this.

"I _want_ to be here, Terezi. I do. But I don't know what's going on." she said. "I don't know how things are going with our plan, because I'm not involved. I don't know what we're doing when we get there, because no one told me. I don't know what's going on with _us_ , because--"

She paused, taking a deep breath. "Beclaws you don't tell me. You never tell me." Terezi was standing stock still, but she didn't look at her. She couldn't. "You don't tell me things, you just expect me to _know_ them."

"But you always do know." Terezi said, quiet. Too quiet. Terezi was never quiet.

"But I shouldn't _have_ to." Nepeta pleaded.

"I _like_ that you always know."

"Terezi..." she trailed off, her eyes fixed to Terezi's feet. "When you asked me to help you you said you wanted me to be your eyes. But I'm not even doing that. And it's not like you really even need anyone's help like that, not really. I... I just want you to tell me things. I can't always know." Running out of air, she stopped. She'd said her piece. What else was there to say?

Terezi took a step back. Panicked, Nepeta looked up. Was she running away? Did she mess everything up? She caught sight of Terezi's face and her heart wrenched in her chest.

Terezi looked so... Sad. Guilty. Lost. And conflicted, like she was struggling with how to respond. This isn't what Nepeta wanted at all. She didn't want to make Terezi feel that way. She was just trying to... trying to...

"I--" she rushed to apologize, but Terezi cut her off.

"I'm _sorry_." Terezi said slowly. She turned her head away, obscuring her expression. "I... didn't realize I was causing a problem for you. I'll try to do better in the future."

Her words were hesitant and precise, like she was choosing them carefully. Nepeta idly thought this might actually be less open than she'd been before.

"Terezi..." she hesitated. "You don't have to change anything. I'm sorry. I'm just-- I've been so confused, I..."

"No, you're absolutely right." Terezi said. "I haven't been fair to you. I can't expect you to know what I'm thinking."

She didn't sound like she meant it, but she said it. Nepeta guessed that would have to be enough.

"So..." Nepeta said. "So then why _am_ I here?"

For a moment Nepeta was sure Terezi still wouldn't answer, but she spoke up.

"You're here because _I_ need you. Not the team, just me." she said. "You're... I can't do this without you. I can't... face her again without you."

More words caught in her throat and she stopped for a second, picking them out.

"I can't do this alone."

Nepeta thought back to what Aradia told her. _She wants to rely on you_ , she'd said. "But you're _not_ alone. You've got Pawlux, and Aradia, and--"

And Karkat, she almost said. But that wasn't true, was it?

"Why me? Why does it have to be me?" she finished. "Why am I different?"

Terezi hesitated, looking almost like she was wrestling with her words. "Because you're..." she trailed off. Nepeta waited for her to finish, but she didn't.

"I'm what?" she prompted.

Terezi, still struggling with what she wanted to say, shut her mouth abruptly. After a moment, she started speaking again. "You're important to me." she said. "It's... easier with you here. I feel like I can trust you the most."

There was more to it than that. She was still holding _something_ back, Nepeta could tell. But for now....

For now that was all she could ask for.

"You're impurrtant to me too, Terezi." she said. Terezi tensed up, hearing the _'but...'_ in her voice. "I promise, I'm not leaving. I said I'd help you, and I will."

Nepeta paused, maybe a bit too long. Terezi turned back towards her, brows furrowed in thought. Nepeta began again. "But..." she said, and Terezi's face steeled. "But that can't be all it is. I want to be involved. I want to _do_ something. I'm here to help you, to help everyone, and to stop Vriskers. So..." she trailed off. "So let me be more than just your motivation."

Terezi slowly breathed out, tension gradually melting away. "Okay." she said. "Okay, I can do that. We'll go over the plan together."

"You promise?" Nepeta asked.

"Yeah." Terezi nodded. She hesitated for a moment, then straightened her posture, facing Nepeta seriously. "We should have been doing that from the beginning anyway, you were right. I was just being selfish."

For a second Nepeta waited, processing what she'd said, then she broke out in a wide grin.

"Great!" she said. "I'm so glad, thanks Terezi!"

Terezi smiled at her, then began to say something else--but before she could, they both heard a shout from across the park. Nepeta turned, and saw Feferi waving at them.

"Nepeta, Terezi!" she called. She ran up to them and stopped, panting to catch her breath.

"Well?" Terezi asked.

Feferi straightened up and looked at her with a wide smile. "I did it!" she said. "I know when Vriska's gonna be at the bank!"

Terezi smiled grimly. "Then we have work to do. Are you ready, Nepeta?"

Nepeta nodded almost without thinking, then realized. "Yes! I'm ready." she said.

Terezi started walking back down the path, pulling out her phone. "Let's assemble the rest of the team."


End file.
